Casing-head for oil or artesian wells.



Patent'ed lune l2, |900.

G. F. TAIT. GASING HEAD FUR 0IL 0B ARATESIAN WELLS.

(Application filed Jan. 22, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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mmmgs: lill NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.h

GEORGE F. TAIT, OF MCDONALD, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE OIL WELL SUPPLY COMPANY, OF PI-TTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

CASING-HEAD FOR OIlL OR ARTESIAN WELLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 651,679, dated June 12, 1900. Application filed January` 22, 1900. Serial No. 2,353. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern/.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. TAIT, a citizen of the United States,residing at McDonald,

in the county of IVashington, State'of Pennsylvania, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Casing-Heads for Oil or Artesian Wells; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the same, reference being had to the vertical central section of the same, taken through the yielding dogs orcatches which hold the cap in position.4 Fig. 3 is a plan view of a modified form ofthe casing-head Aand cap; and Fig. 4 is a sectional View of the modi-r iication on the dotted line 4 4, Fig. 3.

Like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur.

My invention relates to the construction of that class of devices termed casing-heads employed for closing the upper end of the casing or outer tubing of artesian and oil wells and for supporting the inner or pumping tube, and has for its objects to facilitate the removal and to expedite the application of the cap to the casing-head at all times, and especially when, vas in drilling, a crevice is struck or from any cause the well suddenly commences to gush or How. The common practice at present is to secure the cap to and in position on the casing-head by a series of jam or set screws inserted through the walls of the casing-head and which take over the inclined upper surface of the cap, .thus forcing the cap down on the packing-ring which is supported on an annular shoulder or ledge within the casing-head. This, while eective, is a slow and troublesome method of securing the head, and in case of flowing wells or those which flow or gush suddenly while drilling results in much loss or waste of the product, as well as attendant inconvenience and danger. To overcome these several objections to casing-heads as at present constructed, I combine with the casing-head and its detachable cap a series of yielding dogs adapted to automatically recede te admit and advance to clutch and retain the cap when applied, and such a construction embodies the main feature of my invention.

There are other minor features of invention, all as will hereinafter more fully appear.

I will now proceed 'to describe my invention more fully, so that others skilled in the art to whichit appertains may apply the same. In the drawings, A indicates a casing-head which may be of any approved form and provided with the usual gas-outlets (see d, Fig. l) and with the usual annular ledge or shoulder b on its interior for the reception of the -cap B and an interposed gasket or packingring c; and at the usual points just above said ledge h the casing-head may be provided with set-screws D for the final securing of the cap to the casing-head. To the above-noted extent the casing-head is of well-known construction, and as the same involves no part of the present invention may find its equivalent in any approved form of casing-head.

At suitable intervals around the casing head I provide dog or latch pockets 1 for containing yielding dogs or latches 2, arranged to project into the casing-head over the annular ledge or cap-seat b, and preferably said dogs or latches are yieldingly supported and projected by suitable springs 3 within the pockets 1, the dogs or latches being at such distance above ledge b as either to lrake over the casing-cap B at its periphery (see Fig. 2) or into a peripheral groove thereon, (see Fig. 4,) as the case may be.

The dogs or latches 2 are preferably in the form of sliding bolts, each encircled by a spiral spring and provided with a collar 4, which forms one bearing for the spring 3 thereof and also acts as a bearing foraleverhandle 5, having au eye 6, through which the stem of the dog or latch 2 passes, and by 'means of which lever the dog or bolt may be 2 f l Y 651,679`

flow, the dogs or `latches 2 are simultaneously r withdrawn to release thecap through which" the drill-cable passes (the set-screws having. been previouslyT withd rawn, if used)'and the cap, drill-cable, &c., removed,whereupon the l cap intended for use with the pumping-tub` ing (or a closed cap, it desired) is applied and forced to its seat b in the casing-head, the l dogs or levers automatically receding to admit and advancing to clutch the cap, thusl effectively holding it in position in the casing- Subsequently and at leisure lthe set- In like manner the casingca p may be removed, replaced, or another substituted without material loss of time or-` well prod uct.

Y It will be evident toaskilled mechanic that an alternative construction may be adopted,

if desired-that is to say, the yielding dogs may be mounted on the casing-cap and the grooves with which the yends of the dogsl engage may be formed on the interior of the casing-head above the cap-seat?) Without dethe scope of the claims hereinafter lmade; but such a construction is not recommended,

as means for simultaneously withdrawing the ,dogsto release the cap could not be as conveniently applied andvoperated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1.u .The combination `with a casing-head, of

a seriesof yielding dogs mountedthereon and whichnorm ally project into said casing-head, of a detachable casing-cap, subst-antially as Aand for thevpu-rposcs specified.

' 2. The combination with a casing-head having a cap-seat or ledge in its interior, of yielding. dogs arranged to project into the casing-head over Ysaid cap-seat, and a detachablecasing-'cap, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. The combination with'a casing-head, of yielding dogs-arranged to project' into Ysaid casing-head, means for simultaneously retracting said dogs, and a'detachable casingcap, substantially as and for thje purposes specified.

4. Thecombination with a casing-head, `of spring-pressed dogs arranged to project into said casing head, a detachable casing-cap, and coupled levers adapted to-simultaneously retract said dogs to facilitate the application and removal ofthe casing-cap.

5. The combination with acasi-ng-head having set-screws for securing the casing-cap,of a casing-cap having a groove in .itsjperiphery to receive the set-screws of the casing-head, and yielding dogs for coniining the cap to the casing-head, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereof I affix myrsiguature, in presence of two witnesses, this 17th day of January, 1900.

GEORGE F. TIT.

Vituesses:v Y y T. W. LANGS/ION, JOHN MCCRUM. 

